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Title: Jesus Fulfils the Law


Author: One of the Society of Friends



Release Date: June 14, 2011  [eBook #36425]

Language: English

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***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JESUS FULFILS THE LAW***


Transcribed from the 1882 Saml. Harris & Co. edition by David Price,
email ccx074@pglaf.org





                              JESUS FULFILS
                                 THE LAW.


                      [Picture: Decorative divider]

                                    BY
                      One of the Society of Friends.

                      [Picture: Decorative divider]

                                 LONDON.
               SAML. HARRIS & CO., 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT.
                                  1882.

                                * * * * *

                                 LONDON:
                      BARRETT, SONS AND CO., PRINTER
                           SEETHING LANE, E.C.




CONTENTS.



                                                                  PAGE
                              CHAPTER I.
How Jesus fulfilled the Law                                          1
                             CHAPTER II.
Provisions for the Pardon of Sin, and Reconciliation under   16
the Law
                             CHAPTER III.
The Hebrew Sacrifices from the Christian Point of View.      38
The Sacrifice of Christ their true Complement
                             CHAPTER IV.
Testimony of the Old Testament Prophecies to Jesus Christ    54
as the Messiah
                              CHAPTER V.
The Gospel of Christ                                         72



PREFACE.


In a day when so much has been written on almost every Scripture subject
it requires some apology for offering anything further; but as different
trains of thought are more suited to one than another, they may serve as
useful remembrancers, although there may be nothing particularly new
about them.  The writer of the following pages, being in the evening of
life and much retired from its active duties by failing health, often
endeavours to look through the lengthening shadows of the evening to the
glory which shall be revealed, and delights to ponder over those passages
of Holy Writ which form the basis of our faith in Christ.

The following pages make no attempt at scholarship.  The author
thankfully accepts and believes the revelation which God has given us in
Holy Scripture, and has endeavoured to set forth a plain _scriptural_
statement of the successive steps or development of that revelation,
culminating in the Gospel of Christ.

When our Lord says of the final issue of His judgment, “These” (speaking
of the wicked) “shall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
into life eternal,” I believe He perfectly understood the subject, and
meant what He said.  When Paul also, writing of himself and his
fellow-Apostles, said “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we
persuade men,” I believe he meant—they persuaded men “to flee from the
wrath to come,” and take shelter in “the blood of the everlasting
covenant” (Heb. xiii. 20); according to the words, “It is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God who hath said, Vengeance
belongeth unto Me, I will recompense saith the Lord” (Heb. x. 30, 31; and
2 Thess. ii. 6–9).

I have been a fond reader of Holy Scripture from my youth, and have from
time to time studied much that has been written in support of its
genuineness and authenticity; but now in the retrospect of the past I
find no evidence for the general truth of that Scripture at all to
compare with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ—“If any man will do His
(the Father’s) will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God
or whether I speak of myself” (John vii. 17).

“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them
His covenant” (Ps. xxv. 14).  As it is all-important to know that the
foundations are sure, and will stand in the day of trial, I have set down
in these pages the train of thought which has proved most confirming to
my own faith, and trust that some of those who love the Truth as it is in
Jesus may find it helpful to themselves.

We live in eventful times.  There is much abroad in the world to excite
alarm.  When Atheism and Infidelity are making strenuous efforts to
extend their withering influence; when Roman Catholicism and a kindred
ritualism are invading our country, there is abundant need to stick to
the Law and the Testimony, lest the curtains of darkness should be again
spread over it.  But notwithstanding that the picture may be somewhat
gloomy, it is by no means all on one side; by various instrumentalities
the Gospel is being largely and successfully proclaimed, and the message
of salvation _through Christ alone_ is now carried to every class, and
almost from house to house, in a manner never before witnessed; and the
lowest haunts of vice and misery are at least opened to the town
missionary, the Bible-woman, or the evangelist, where but recently the
police could not venture single-handed; and many are the brands plucked
from the burning, so that among these, as well as among the social
circles above them, a rich and powerful wave of Gospel blessing is
rolling over the land.

If I have fairly represented the teaching of the Bible, it is all that I
could aspire to.  The many “divers and strange doctrines” which in one or
another way oppose the Gospel of Christ, must be swept away before the
grand truths which the Bible sets forth, and which, when time is past and
eternity remains, will for ever be a theme of praise and thanksgiving to
the glorified beings who shall be accounted worthy to stand before the
throne, and swell the anthem of “Glory and dominion to Him who loved us,
and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. i. 5, 6).




CHAPTER I.


HOW JESUS FULFILLED THE LAW.

“I am not come to destroy” (the law and the prophets) “but to fulfil.
Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass
from the law till all be fulfilled” (Matt. v. 17, 18).

The above solemn words of our Lord Jesus Christ, being part of His Sermon
on the Mount (as related by Matthew), appear to open an interesting field
of inquiry into an important portion of Divine Truth as set forth in Holy
Scripture.

In what manner did our Lord so fulfil the law given by Moses that one jot
or one tittle should in no wise pass unfulfilled?  Was it when He went to
the Baptist, and _received baptism_, because it became Him to fulfil all
righteousness? (Matt. iii. 15).  Was it when He sent the ten lepers whom
He would heal to show themselves to the priests (agreeably to Lev. xiv.
2; Luke xvii. 14); or in another similar case, when He said, “Go, show
thyself to the priest, and offer those things which Moses commanded for a
testimony unto them”? (Mark i. 44; Luke v. 14).

Was it by attending the appointed feasts at Jerusalem, and generally in
other cases, recorded or not recorded, in which He conformed, and was
subject to the ritual which had been before appointed?  Or are we not to
understand the words in a much deeper sense than His personal submission
to the Law?—that of fulfilling, perfecting, and giving a living reality
to all its foreshadowing types, in themselves dead and profitless; to
seal, assure, and make good all its promises to the obedient subjects of
that Law; all its threatenings to the disobedient; to open up to mankind
that rich inheritance prepared alike for the men of that day and for us,
foreshadowed by the land of promise flowing with milk and honey; to
perfect that which was lacking in those offerings of atonement which in
themselves could never take away sins (Heb. x. 4)?

The ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us under the two
characters of an Apostle and High Priest (Heb. iii. 1).

1st.  _As an Apostle_, to declare and teach the principles of that Divine
Truth, which distinguished the New Covenant of life and salvation from
the covenant of bondage to ordinances then about to be abolished, which
had been designed as introductory to it; and to ordain and qualify His
Apostles to declare its principles more fully after His death and
resurrection.

For obvious reasons the New Covenant could not be fully published until
the offering of Christ had fulfilled the Scriptures relating to Him; and
when the resurrection had declared Him to be the Son of God with power.

Although our Lord had often pointed out to His Apostles that in His life
and actions He was fulfilling the Scriptures, it is clear they did not
fully understand their import until after the Holy Ghost had descended on
them on the Day of Pentecost, and opened up to their minds, with a vivid
remembrance, and clear sunshine of heavenly light, all that Jesus had
said and done, giving to them that wonderful power and energy which they
afterwards exhibited, as well as those miraculous gifts of the Spirit
which were necessary to confirm their doctrine to others.  Thus we read
that we ought to give a more earnest heed to the things “which began to
_be spoken by the_ LORD, and were confirmed to us by them that heard Him;
God also bearing them witness, with signs and wonders, and divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will” (Heb.
ii. 3, 4).

Our Lord had, on several occasions, as before observed, taken care to
instruct His disciples in the Scriptures which related to Himself; but He
did so more explicitly after His resurrection; beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, He expounded to the _two_ on their way to Emmaus the
“things concerning Himself, in all the Scriptures” (Luke xxiv. 27).  And
when they had returned to Jerusalem, and had related to the eleven (and
others with them) what had happened in the way, He stood in their midst,
and confirmed their testimony, saying, “These are the words which I spake
unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the
Psalms {6} concerning Me.  Then opened He their understanding, that they
might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written,
and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third
day” (Luke xxiv. 44–46).

When Jesus sent out His twelve disciples to preach, He said to them,—“He
that receiveth _you_ receiveth _Me_, and he that receiveth _Me_ receiveth
_Him that sent Me_” (Matt. x. 40), so that in receiving the Apostles’
doctrine and teaching, we receive Christ’s teaching.  Also the same
principle is set forth in John xiii. 20, “He that receiveth whomsoever I
send receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.”

2nd.  _As a High Priest_ our Lord is introduced in the most solemn words
of prophecy:—“The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest
for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Ps. cx. 4, quoted in Heb. vii.
21).

This most solemn form of utterance is seldom used in Scripture.  It
occurs also when God sware to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations
of the earth should be blessed (Gen. xxii. 16–18):—To the rebellious
Israelites, that they should not enter into His rest (Deut. i. 34,
35):—To Moses, that he should not go into Canaan (Deut. iv. 21):—To
David, that his seed should endure for ever, and his throne unto all
generations (Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4).

It is treated in Heb. vii. 20–22 as exhibiting the superior authority and
character of Christ as a High Priest, in comparison with the priesthood
of Levi: “For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an
oath; . . . and by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better
testament.”  And again, in ver. 28: “For the Law maketh men high priests
which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the Law,
maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.”

It is also treated (Heb. vi. 16–19) as expressing the absolutely
unalterable counsel of God: “Men verily swear by the greater, and an oath
for confirmation is to them an end of all strife; wherein God, willing
more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His
counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who
have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.”  That hope
which is as an _anchor_ to the soul, both sure and steadfast.

The office of _an apostle_ (or special messenger, or messenger with
special tidings), viewed separately, has nothing of the _priest_; but the
offices of teacher of the law, mediator, and priest were combined in the
Levitical priesthood; and they were perfectly blended in the person of
our Lord Jesus Christ.  Nevertheless the doctrine of the priesthood of
Christ could not be much developed or declared until the abolition of the
priests of Levi by the termination of that first covenant, when Jesus
declared, “It is finished,” and “gave up the ghost,” and “the veil of the
Temple was rent in twain”—indicating that the approach to the Divine
Presence was opened to all.

During the patriarchal ages, the head of the family or house appears to
have combined in himself the patriarch and priest.  Noah, Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, offered sacrifices as well as Abel, though the recorded
instances are few, and only on very remarkable occasions; such as the
coming out of the ark, the call of Abram, the sacrifice of Isaac, the
covenant to Jacob.  But we read that it was the constant practice of Job;
for, after giving an account of the burnt-offerings offered for each of
his sons after their days of feasting, it is added, “thus did Job
continually” (Job i. 5); and such was no doubt the practice of other
patriarchs.

At the close of Job’s temptation, the Lord said to His three friends that
they should take seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to Job, and offer
up burnt-offerings, and Job would pray for them, “for him will I accept”
(Job xlii. 8).

Of the patriarchal religion we are told but little.  The Apostle Paul
says, in Rom. v. 14, “Death reigned from Adam to Moses”; in Rom. i. 20,
that “God’s eternal power and Godhead were clearly seen in the works of
creation,” so that they were without excuse; and in Rom. ii. 14, 15, that
though without law they had a conscience bearing witness to the law
written in their hearts, accusing or excusing their thoughts.

In the earliest days, the power of God manifested in the works of
creation spoke to men more clearly than it may now speak to heathen
nations who know not God.

They spoke to Adam and Eve of the God whom _they knew_, and had had
intimate acquaintance with.  The glory of Eden and the events of their
life there, with their disastrous fall and expulsion, must have made an
indelible impression on _their_ minds.  Knowing their Creator they would
have no disposition to worship the sun, moon, or stars, as His works.  It
would be contrary to all the subsequent history of the dealings of God
with His creatures to suppose our first parents were driven out and left
to their own devices as to the means of reconciliation with Him; and
though we are not expressly told that sacrifice was offered by Adam, many
think that the first instruction in utilising skins for clothing,
referred to the skins of animals offered in sacrifice. {12}

At probably no very distant period from the Fall (described as, “In
process of time,” or “in the end of days”), we find Abel offering the
firstling of his flock, an acceptable sacrifice to God; the same that was
commanded by the law of Moses.

When we take into account the length of Adam’s life and that of his sons,
there is no difficulty in concluding that those indelible impressions
would be handed down to his posterity, with the history of the Lord’s
dealings with him, and what had been revealed to him as the means of
propitiation, or being reconciled to Him.

That there was a revelation before the Flood is evident, for Abel offered
an acceptable sacrifice, but Cain’s was not accepted; while the words
addressed by the Lord to Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be
accepted? and if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door” (Gen. iv. 7),
clearly indicate that Cain knew what was pleasing or displeasing to Him.
Enoch and Noah also walked with God so faithfully that the one was
translated, and the other, by his act of faith, condemned the world, and
became heir of the righteousness which is of faith; very clearly showing
that faith, rather than works, was in those days the basis of salvation.

When we consider the terms in which the sacrifice of Christ is set forth
in the New Testament, as “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world” (Rev. xiii. 8); “Preordained before the foundation of the world”
(1 Pet. i. 20; Rom. xvi. 25; Eph; iii. 9, 11; Col. i. 26; 2 Tim. i. 9;
Titus i. 2; Matt. xxv. 34); it would seem impossible to doubt that the
great principle of human redemption or reconciliation, set forth by so
many types under the Law, and by the one Great Offering of the Gospel,
should not have had its initiative in the earlier means of grace and
pardon of the patriarchal times.

When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, a complete system of
priesthood was established by Divine command in Aaron and his sons,
assisted in the general labours of the Tabernacle service by the
remainder of the tribe of Levi.  The exhibitions of Divine power and
majesty which accompanied the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai were of
a character to produce the deepest and most lasting impression on those
who witnessed them.  And as those institutions have a very important
bearing on the Gospel of Christ, it is important to review them, as
briefly as possible; and more especially as this portion of Scripture is
often not so much studied as it might be with advantage by some of those
who, taking a high view of the essential spirituality of the Gospel, are
the less disposed to look into the basis of that spiritual religion,
which was laid in the Mosaic law.




CHAPTER II.


PROVISIONS FOR THE PARDON OF SIN, AND RECONCILIATION UNDER THE LAW.

The regularly ordained sacrifices were the following:—

1st.  _The daily sacrifices_.  Two lambs of the first year—one in the
morning and the other in the evening (and on the _Sabbath four lambs_,
Num. xxviii 9); with their meat- and drink-offerings of flour, oil, wine
“for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord” (Exod. xxix.
38–41).  “This shall be _a continual_ burnt-offering throughout your
generations at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation before the
Lord, _where I will meet with you_, _to speak there unto thee_” (ver.
42).  “And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their
God” (ver. 45).

Whatever _other_ sacrifices were commanded for any or every day of the
week, they were _additional_ to these daily offerings, with which nothing
interfered.

2nd.  On the first day of every month (or first appearance of the new
moon)—

Two young bullocks,                    With flour, oil, and wine,

One ram,

Seven lambs of the first year,

a burnt-offering for a sweet savour, made by fire unto the Lord.

_Also one kid_ for a _sin-offering_, and his drink-offering (Num. xxviii.
11, &c.).

3rd.  On the 14th of the first month (Abib) the _Feast of the Passover_,
also called “the _sacrifice_ of the Lord’s passover” (Exod. xii. 27).

It was a memorial festival throughout the generations of the children of
Israel, to mark their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, and the special
Providence which protected them from the destroying angel, who procured
that deliverance by slaying all the first-born of man and beast in Egypt.

A lamb of the first year, a male from the sheep or goats and without
blemish, was killed at even, and the flesh roasted with fire was eaten by
every household that night, while the destroying angel was at work around
them; but prior to this the blood of the lamb had been sprinkled on the
two side posts, and upper door post of the houses, “and the blood shall
be to you for a token. . . .  And when the Lord seeth the blood, He will
pass over you;” so that while every other house had its dead, they ate
securely under cover of the sprinkled blood.

This festival was instituted on the departure of the children of Israel
from Egypt, and before the giving of the Law, or the appointment of the
priesthood of Aaron and his sons.  As with the patriarchal sacrifices, it
was provided by the head of the household.

In allusion to _subsequent_ times, when their children should inquire the
meaning of the service, they were to say “It is the _sacrifice_ of the
Lord’s passover” (Exod. xii. 27).

The Passover has a very marked reference to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Shortly before His death He said to His disciples, “With desire I have
desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer;” and at that
supper He said of the bread, which as the master of the feast He broke,
“This is My body which is given for you;” and of the cup, “This is the
New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke xxii. 15–20).

4th.  Immediately upon the Paschal feast followed, during the next seven
days, _the Feast of Unleavened Bread_, during which were to be offered,
_each day_—

Two young bullocks,                 For a burnt-offering, with flour
                                    and oil,
One ram,

Seven lambs,

and _one goat_ daily for a _sin-offering_ (Num. xxviii. 17–25).

5th.  On presenting the _sheaf of First-fruits_ to the Lord, of which it
is said “Ye shall neither eat _bread_ nor _parched corn_, nor _green
ears_, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your
God” {20} (Lev. xxiii. 14).  On that day was to be offered a male lamb,
without blemish, of the first year, for a burnt-offering, with flour,
oil, and wine,—“an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet
savour” (Lev. xxiii. 13).

6th.  The _Feast of Pentecost_ (called also feast of weeks, Ex. xxxiv.
22), fifty days later, on presenting to the Lord a _new meat-offering
__from their habitations_ (Lev. xxiii. 16).  Two wave loaves of fine
flour, baken with leaven, “They are the first-fruits unto the Lord” (Lev.
xxiii. 17), and the accompanying offerings were—

Seven lambs of first year,                  For a burnt-offering,

Two {21} young bullocks,

One ram,

and one kid for _a sin-offering_ (to make atonement—Num. xxviii. 30), and
two lambs for a peace-offering (Lev. xxiii. 19).

7th.  _At the Feast of Trumpets_, the first of the _seventh_ month—

One young bullock,                            With flour and oil.

One ram,

Seven lambs,

for a burnt-offering for a sweet savour unto the Lord, and one kid for a
sin-offering “to make atonement for you” (Num. xxix. 2–5).

8th.  _On the annual Day of Atonement_, the tenth of the seventh month:
_One young bullock_ for a sin-offering, and _a ram_ for a burnt-offering
for the high priest and his house (Lev. xvi. 6), and _two kids of the
goats_ from the congregation for a sin-offering (one for the annual
sin-offering, and one for the scape-goat) (Lev. xvi. 5).  Also—

One bullock,                        With meat offering of flour and
                                    oil,
One ram, and

Seven lambs,

for a _burnt-offering_ (Num. xxix. 8).  And one kid for a _sin-offering_
of atonement (Num. xxix. 11).

This was a day of great solemnity—“It shall be a holy convocation unto
you, and ye shall afflict your souls” (Lev. xxiii. 27), &c, “Ye shall do
no work; . . . it is a _day to make atonement for you before the Lord
your God_” (Lev. xxiii. 28); and whoever among the congregation did not
afflict his soul, or whoever did any work therein, was to be cut off from
among his people (Lev. xxiii. 29, 30).  “It shall be . . . a sabbath of
rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day at even, from
even to even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath” (Lev. xxiii. 32).

The high priest was not to enter within the veil to the inner tabernacle,
except on this day, “that he die not,” and then only with the blood of
the sin-offerings for himself and the congregation, peculiar to this day.

Before doing so he laid aside his ornamental garments and put on a linen
dress (Lev. xvi. 2–4).  He took in his hands a censer of burning coals
from the altar of burnt offerings and put on it a handful of incense,
that the cloud of the incense might cover the mercy seat, whereon the
Lord appeared in the cloud, “that he die not” (Lev. xvi. 12, 13).  He
then took the blood of the sin-offerings, both for the priest and people,
within the veil, and sprinkled it with his finger upon the mercy seat
eastward, and before the mercy seat seven times (Lev. xvi. 15, 16), to
make an atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the
children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins
(Lev. xvi. 16).

This is the only sacrifice described in the Law, which corresponds with
the words in Hebrews xiii. 11:—“The bodies of those beasts whose blood is
brought into the sanctuary for sin, are burned without the camp.”

No other blood was annually brought into the sanctuary (or inner temple)
by the high priest on behalf of the people, and sprinkled on and before
the mercy seat; and the flesh of these, as well as of some other
offerings, was burned without the camp.

The service of this day required that in addition to a bullock for a
sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering, to make atonement for
himself and his house (Lev. xvi. 3–6), the _high priest should take of
the congregation_ of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering
(Lev. xvi. 5); he was to present the two kids at the door of the
tabernacle (ver. 7), and “cast lots,” one for the Lord and one “for the
scape-goat” (vers. 8 and 10).  He killed the former for a sin-offering
for the people, and proceeded as already described (p. 23).

In addition to the blood taken within the veil, the high priest was to
put some of it upon the horns of the altar, and sprinkle it seven times
upon it to hallow it (vers. 18, 19).

Then, as to the other, or scape-goat, Aaron laid both his hands on the
head of the live goat and confessed over him all the iniquities of the
children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins;
putting them on the head of the goat, and sent him away by the hand of a
fit man into the wilderness, and the “goat bore them away to a land not
inhabited” (Lev. xvi. 21).

Although every sin-offering had a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, the
kid offered on this day by the masses of the people is treated in Heb.
xiii. as having a very special application to Him, from the blood having
been carried within the veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat, and from
the body having been burned without the camp.  So Jesus, having suffered
without the gate, and having obtained eternal redemption for us, not by
the blood of others, but by His own blood, having “given Himself a ransom
for all,” entered not into the holy places made with hands, but into
Heaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for us.

Again, in the scape-goat, which was the complement of the sin-offering,
we have a reference to the Lord Jesus bearing away our sins “in His own
body on the tree,” so that they should be no more remembered against us
(1 Pet. ii. 24).

9th.  There remains one more appointed festival, _the Feast of
Tabernacles_, or ingathering (Exod. xxiii. 16) on the fifteenth day of
the seventh month, when the crops of wine and oil had completed the
harvest labours.  It lasted seven days, during which numerous sacrifices
were ordained, viz.,—

The 1st day, 13 bullocks, 2 rams, 14 lambs,

2nd „ 12 „ 2 „ 14 „

3rd „ 11 . „ 2 „ 14 „

4th „ 10 „ 2 „ 14 „

5th „ 9 „ 2 „ 14 „

6th „ 8 „ 2 „ 14 „

7th „ 7 „ 2 „ 14 „

with their meat and drink-offerings.  And _each_ of the seven days _one
goat for a sin-offering_.  And on the eighth day a holy convocation, with
offerings of one bullock, one ram and seven lambs, with accompaniments,
and _one ram for a sin-offering_.  “These things shall ye do unto the
Lord in your set feasts, besides your vows, and your freewill offerings,
for your burnt-offerings, and for your meat-offerings, and for your
drink-offerings, and for your peace-offerings” (Num. xxix. 12–39).

The service of the Tabernacle and its offerings were supplied by
contributions of half a shekel per head on all that were numbered, from
twenty years old and upwards.  The rich were not to give more, nor the
poor less.  It was offered to the Lord to make an atonement for their
souls (Exod. xxx. 14–16).

As indicated in the latter portion of the above quotation (Num. xxix.
39), besides these stated daily, monthly, and annual sacrifices, which
were of a public or general character, there were—

1st.  _Voluntary offerings_, which do not seem to have been specially
enjoined, nor to have had reference to any particular sins, but arose
from the voluntary will and devotion of the person offering, and the
priest sprinkled the blood round about upon the altar; “and _it was
accepted for him to make an atonement for him_” (Lev. i. 2–5); “an
offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord” (ver. 9).  It was
required to be a male without blemish of the herd or of the flock, two
turtle-doves, or two young pigeons (vers. 2 and 10–17).

2nd.  _Peace-offerings_, also for the most part voluntarily, in which the
offerer shared with the priest the offering—a male or female of the herd
without blemish, or a lamb or goat (Lev. iii. 1, &c.).

3rd.  _The Sin-offering_ for sins of ignorance afterwards brought to
light (Lev. iv. 13, &c.).

4th.  _The Trespass-offering_.—If any one sinned in hearing swearing and
not uttering it, or in any uncleanness, or swearing, he was to take a
lamb or a kid (a female), or two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, or,
if too poor for any of them, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour,
“and the priest shall make an atonement for him for the sin which he hath
sinned, and it shall be forgiven him” (Lev. v. 1–13).

In every case the offering was required to be perfect in its kind, and
without blemish.

The sin-offering was more especially for atonement; but the voluntary and
other offerings are spoken of as contributing thereto (Lev. i. 3): coming
from the voluntary will of the people, they expressed the heart’s
devotion, and bore a “sweet savour to God.”

But in the days when Isaiah wrote, and when great corruption prevailed,
it is said, “Incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and
sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with” (Isa. i. 13).
And Amos says, “I will not smell in your solemn assembly” (Amos v. 21).
The people drew near with the lip, but the heart was far from God (Isa.
xxix. 13); so the sacrifices bore with them no sweet savour of devotion
to Him.

In contemplating the mass of sacrifices thus noted, we may easily enter
into the feeling expressed by Paul (more especially as regarded
circumcision)—“which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear;” and
we can the more fully appreciate the blessing of the Gospel, which has
relieved us from all such burdens, and given us individually a free
access (whether Jew or Gentile) to the Father of Mercies, through the one
only High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord.

But it was not so much to point out the burdens which our forefathers in
the faith of Christ had to bear—burdens which, nevertheless, were light
compared with the burden of unforgiven sin—that we have traced the
requirements of the law; but to point to the testimony they bore to
Christ and His Kingdom.

Under the law no Israelite could obtain pardon for his sin except through
the _Priest_, who was the appointed mediator—to him he brought the
prescribed offering, and slew it at the Tabernacle door; the priest
received the blood, and some of the internal fat; the former he
sprinkled, and the latter he burned, on the altar; and, in the words of
the text, “_The priest shall make an atonement for his sin_, _and it
shall be forgiven him_.”

We may not be able to define the extent to which the Holy Ghost was then
enjoyed, but we cannot doubt that the testimony of a conscience free of
offence towards God was sealed on the mind of the offerer when the
atonement was made agreeably to the words, “Ye shall therefore keep my
statutes and my judgments; which if a man do he shall live in them” (Lev.
xviii. 5).

The Apostle Paul confirms this language, saying, “The man that doeth
them” (the statutes of the Law) “shall live in them” (Gal. iii. 12); and
when we consider the words of the same writer: “The children of Israel
could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished” (2 Cor.
iii. 13), we need not suppose the offerers had, in general, any
understanding that what they did had a special relation to the better
Mediator to come.  As in the case of the brazen serpent they looked to it
and were healed; so here they made their offerings believing in their
efficacy, and reaped the fruit of pardon and peace.

This divinely-instituted law was enjoined on the people under the most
solemn assurances of blessings for obedience, and cursings for
disobedience, viz.: “Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a
curse; a blessing if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God which
I command you this day: and a curse if ye will not obey the commandments
of the Lord your God, but turn aside after other gods” (Deut. xi. 26–28;
xxvii. 15–26; and ch. xxviii.).  “I call heaven and earth to record this
day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live,
that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His
voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him; for He is thy life and the
length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord
sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them”
(Deut. xxx. 19, 20).

They did what God had provided to enable them to walk with Him, and when
they erred or failed to keep His holy law they brought the means of
reconciliation He had appointed.  In such way a man might do justly, love
mercy, and walk humbly with his God, which is the whole duty of man.

“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is
peace” (Ps. xxxvii. 37), might be applied to such an one, and the model
may perhaps be useful in enabling us to understand the higher perfection
required by the Gospel.  “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His
Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John i. 7).

If we look for the essential principle of this elaborate system of
priestly mediation for the forgiveness of sins, as well as for presenting
to God the freewill offerings or devotions of the people, it will be
found in the 11th verse of the 17th chapter of Leviticus, viz.: “For the
life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the
altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that
maketh an atonement for the soul.”

Such were the conditions under which the law given from Mount Sinai was
presented to or enjoined on the people.  They were to choose between life
or death, blessing or cursing, obedience with the Divine favour, or
refusal to obey, with the Divine displeasure.  The eyes of the Lord would
be over the righteous, and His ear open to their cry; but the face of the
Lord would be against them that did evil, to cut off the remembrance of
them from the earth—Ps. xxxiv. 15, 16—conditions so different as to
constitute the highest happiness man was capable of at that time, or the
deepest degradation and misery which he could endure in this life, with
no better prospect beyond.

The consequences of God’s favour and blessing are set forth with peculiar
strength in Deuteronomy (see pp. 33, 34), together with the consequences
of His favour being withdrawn, which we may do well to ponder; as the
language quoted above from the Psalms is adopted by the Apostle Peter as
applicable equally to Christian times, and the principles of the
quotations from Deuteronomy are equally applicable to the old or new
dispensations—viz., obedience to the revealed will of God with life and
blessing, or disobedience with death and misery.

“He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and
done despite unto the Spirit of Grace?” (Heb. x. 28, 29).




CHAPTER III.


THE HEBREW SACRIFICES FROM THE CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW.  THE SACRIFICE OF
CHRIST THEIR TRUE COMPLEMENT.

When we consider the bearings of the Mosaic laws on the religion of
Christ, it is impossible to avoid a careful attention to the Epistle to
the Hebrews, which so clearly sets forth the unity of design between the
different revelations, and the manner in which the institutions of the
former prefigured and led up to the higher, purer, and holier covenant of
the Gospel.

The mode in which the author deals with the highest subjects and persons
bespeaks for him the position of one of the chiefest apostles, to whom
abundance of revelations had been made, and whose mind was disembarrassed
from the prejudices of the past, and accepted without reserve the fully
developed light and spirit of the Gospel.  Who else could venture on
language like the opening verses of this book; or those words in the
second chapter, “_For it became Him_, _for whom are all things_, _and by
whom are all things_, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the
Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. ii. 10).

To him the transition from the Law to the Gospel is perfectly natural and
necessary.  As the morning dawn passes on into the perfect day, so the
Law, having done its preparatory work, merges into the glorious light of
the Gospel of Christ; or, to use the author’s own simile, the Law decays,
waxes old, and vanishes away just as the glory of the Gospel appears.
The one must increase, the other decrease; the type be swallowed up in
the antitype.  Nothing is discordant; everything fits naturally to its
bearings on the other.  Moses as lawgiver gives place to the Prophet whom
the Lord would raise up to His people.  The priesthood of Aaron and his
sons is superseded by the High Priesthood of Christ.  The blood of
animals, which had no inherent healing power—by the blood of Him, who
(uniting the Divine and the human—God and Man), “through the Eternal
Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God,” “an offering and a
sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour” for the sins of men.  The
beneficent provisions of the Mosaic laws—of which Moses could say (Deut.
iv. 8): “What nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments
so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?”—give place
to the yet purer principles of the Gospel of Christ.

Had it not been for the long course of typical sacrifices, continued
through so many ages, how would it have been possible in the latter days
to establish the value and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ?  The
sacrificial rites of heathen nations, so degrading to morality and purity
of thought and life, would _alone_ have led no one to imagine such a
sacrifice as His: although when viewed as corruptions of revealed truth
they have, as accessories, a valuable significance.

We propose now to look at the intrinsic value of the sacrifices under the
Mosaic institutions from the Christian point of view, and the superiority
of the sacrifice and religion of Christ, as explained in the Epistle to
the Hebrews.

Chapter 1 sets forth that God, who had formerly spoken to men by
_Prophets_, has now spoken to us _by His Son_, who, being the brightness
of His glory and express image of His person, when He had by Himself
_purged our sins_, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Here is the first recognition of the teaching and High Priesthood of
Christ.  _He speaks to us the things of God_, _and purges away our sins
by Himself_ (vers. 1–3).

Chapter 2 opens with the exhortation that for this reason we ought to
give the more earnest attention to what He taught. {42}

Chapter 2 sets forth also that Christ had passed through suffering, in
order that He “might be a merciful and faithful _High Priest_ in things
pertaining to God, _to make reconciliation for the sins of the people_”
(c. ii. 17).

Chapter 3 opens with an invitation to consider this _Apostle_ and _High
Priest_ of our profession, faithful in all things to Him that appointed
Him—far exceeding Moses in glory—for Moses was faithful as a servant;
Christ as a son over His own house (vers. 1–6).

Chapter 5 says, “Every _high priest_ taken from among men _is ordained
for men in things pertaining to God_, that he may offer both gifts and
_sacrifices for sin_” (ver. 1), that no man takes this honour unto
himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron.  So Christ glorified
not Himself, to be made a high priest; but He that said unto Him, “Thou
art My Son, to-day have I begotten Thee!” and again, “Thou art a Priest
for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (vers. 4, 5, 6).

Further on, after setting forth, in the seventh chapter, the surpassing
excellence of the High Priesthood of Christ in comparison with that of
Aaron, and marking how exactly such a High Priest was adapted to our
every need, “holy, harmless, undefined, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens” (c. vii. 26), the Apostle sums up his argument
in the eighth chapter: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is
the sum, We _have_ such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens—a Minister of the sanctuary and
of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man (Heb. viii. 1,
2).  And inasmuch as every high priest _is ordained to offer_ both gifts
and sacrifices, it is _of necessity that this man have somewhat to
offer_” (Heb. viii. 3).

Jesus was proved to be our High Priest by offering up His own body for
our sins, which is stated in the most explicit terms.  “But Christ being
come, a High Priest of good things to come; . . . neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but _by His own blood_ He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption (for us)” (Heb. ix. 11, 12).

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
_offered Himself without spot to God_, _purge_ your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God?” (Heb. ix. 14). (See also ver. 15.)

“Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth
into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He
often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once in
the end of the world hath He appeared to PUT AWAY SIN _by the_ SACRIFICE
_of Himself_” (Heb. ix. 25, 26).

“So Christ was once _offered to bear the sins_ of many,” _i.e._, of all
that look to Him for salvation (Heb. ix. 28).

“By the which will we are sanctified through the _offering of the_ BODY
_of_ Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. x. 10).

“For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified”
(Heb. x. 14).

The Apostle Paul uses language equally explicit in Eph. v. 2:—“And walk
in love, as Christ also hath loved us, _and given Himself for us_, _an
offering_ and a _sacrifice to God_, of a _sweet smelling savour_.” {46}

Having thus shown how, on the _principles_ of the _priesthood of Aaron_,
the Lord Jesus had proved Himself to be a priest, although of the higher
and more perfect order of Melchisedec—the order of righteousness and
peace, and everlasting endurance—this epistle points out in a very
conclusive manner the defects of the Mosaic institutions, which were
enjoined for a time only, to prepare the way, and lead up to the enduring
realities of the Gospel of Christ.  And here we cannot but notice again
how completely the Christian mind of the author had passed from all the
Jewish prejudices and predilections of his former training, to regard
everything in the light and spirit of Christ; while far from disregarding
or repudiating that which he showed to be past, worn out, and abolished,
he draws from it his most powerful arguments in favour of the New
Covenant as required to complete the first, by making good its typical
meaning, and securing to all who had passed from earth to heaven under
the provisions of the Law, those blessings which they had already entered
on, upon the promise of the sacrifice of Christ to come.

“For the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope
did; by the which we draw nigh unto God” (Heb. vii. 19).  That better
hope is stated to be the “blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God,” purging our conscience, &c. (Heb.
ix. 13, 14)

“For the Law having a shadow (or shadowing forth) of good things to come,
and not the very image (or substance and reality) of the things, can
never by those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually
make the comers thereunto perfect” (Heb. x. 1).  It was “therefore
necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens, should be purified
with these, {48a} but the heavenly things themselves with better
sacrifices {48b} than these” (Heb. ix. 23).

The passage last quoted follows verse 22, which declares, “without
shedding of blood is no remission” (See also Lev. xvii. 11).  But if it
was impossible that the blood shed under the law of Moses (Heb. x. 4),
should take away sins, it is evident that other blood _must be_ shed of
which that was typical, and which should be effectual for the purpose,
agreeably to Heb. ix. 15, referring to Christ; “For this cause He is the
Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption
of the transgressions that were under the first Testament, they which are
called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”  In the former
sacrifices there was a remembrance again made of sins every year (Heb. x.
3).  But after the one Sacrifice for ever it is said, “their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more” (x. 17).

“And having made peace _through the blood of His cross_, by Him to
reconcile all things unto Himself, whether things in earth or things in
heaven” (Col. i. 20).

“In _the body of His flesh through death_, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in His sight” (Col. i. 22).

Thus we are given to understand that the sins of future generations,
should be atoned by the one offering of Christ, as well as those of past
generations, so that all generations alike owe their salvation to the one
Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, in whom “all are made alive,
and who is the one only hope of glory.  For as in Adam all die, so in
Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. xv. 22) in such manner that if we
are united to Him we partake of what is His, and shall find in Him all
that we can need as a Saviour, Mediator, Intercessor, and Redeemer.

Nothing is of us; all from Christ.  In Him is all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9); full of grace and truth (John i. 14).  All
power is committed to Him in heaven and in earth (Matt. xxviii. 18).  As
maker and upholder of all things, blessings, spiritual and temporal, are
in His hand (Heb. i. 2, 3); and in Him are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge (Col. ii. 3), and “He is able to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Heb. vii. 25).

Can we not now with reverent feeling enter into somewhat of the deep
meaning of those few words of our Lord, “_That thus_ IT MUST BE” (Matt.
xxvi. 54)? and of that awful scene which had just passed in the garden of
Gethsemane, when He had thrice prayed—“_If it be possible_, let this cup
pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt”—when His soul
was “exceeding sorrowful even unto death” (Matt. xxvi. 38, 39); and when
“there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven strengthening Him (Luke
xxii. 43); when His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to
the ground” (Luke xxii. 44).

The words referred to were spoken when Peter had made an attempt at
resistance, and smitten off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, who
came with others to take Jesus, and when He had rebuked Peter, saying,
“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall
presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?  _But how then
shall the Scriptures be fulfilled_ that _thus it must be_?” (Matt. xxvi.
51–54).  “The Lord” had “sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest
for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Ps. cx. 4).  And then to show
that He needed not even the legions to rescue Him, but had still all
power in His hands, when about to be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter”
(Isa. liii. 7), as soon as He had said to the band of men and officers
who came with Judas to take Him, “_I am He_” they went backwards and fell
to the ground (John xviii. 3–7), signifying that they had no power to
touch Him until again encouraged by Jesus.  And so at each step of His
trial, mocking, scourging, until by wicked hands He was crucified and
slain (Acts ii. 23)—it was: “Thou couldst have no power against Me except
it were given Thee from above” (John xix. 11).  At each step it was His
voluntary submission to ignominy and insult, and a cruel death, that He
might redeem us from death, and from the power of the grave and of hell
by His own blood.




CHAPTER IV.


TESTIMONY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES TO JESUS CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH.

We have thus endeavoured to point out in how comprehensive a sense Jesus
fulfilled the Law, so that one jot or one tittle should not fail or be
lost.

The Apostle Peter, in the third chapter of Acts, says, “Those things
which God before _had showed by the mouth of all His prophets_, that
Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled” (ver. 18).

It was the beneficent design of our Heavenly Father that so many rays of
light, passing through varied channels, and spread over all past time,
should concentrate upon Jesus as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world, that there might be no excuse for rejecting Him.  Let us
recall some of the principal passages in which the Old Testament
Scriptures refer to our Lord and His kingdom.

1.  His coming was prophesied from the fall of Adam and Eve, in the
Lord’s address to the serpent, thus, “The seed of the woman shall bruise
thy head, but thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. iii. 15), a prophecy
obscure at first, but abundantly explained by subsequent history and
prophecy.

2.  The promise was made to Abraham and renewed to Isaac and Jacob, that
in their seed, all the families of the earth should be blessed (Gen. xii.
3, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4).

3.  The family of Jacob was chosen to be a peculiar people to the Lord.
Laws, sacrifices, and institutions were given them to be as a
schoolmaster to lead them to Christ, and it was declared the sceptre
“shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come” (Gen. xlix. 10).

4.  As time progressed the covenant was further confirmed and limited to
the tribe of Judah, and the family of Jesse, and, again, of David.

5.  The _time_ of the Messiah’s advent was closely indicated by the
prophecy of Daniel; seventy weeks of years, or 490 years from the
rebuilding of Jerusalem (Dan. ix. 24, 25).

It was to be during the continuance of the second Temple, and when there
should be a general expectation and desire in all nations for Him (Hag.
ii. 6–9).  He would be preceded by a forerunner, who would prepare His
way (Mal. iii. 1).

6.  The _place_ of His birth was pointed out by Micah (v. 2) as Bethlehem
of Judah.  He was to be born of a virgin, and called Immanuel—“God with
us” (Isa. vii. 14).  He was to commence His teaching in Galilee (Isa. ix.
1, 2).

7.  The _character_ of His mediatorial coming; His humble origin; His
lowly, suffering life, and His cruel death—were described with singular
accuracy by the Prophet Isaiah;—as well as the ultimate glory of His
Kingdom and reign.  And the Psalms abound in references to the sufferings
of Christ, often spoken as of David, but having their full accomplishment
in Him who was emphatically “the Son of David.”

It was natural that the _worldly-minded Jews_, in anticipating their
Messiah, and looking for one greater than Solomon, should expect to see
one exceeding him, not only in wisdom, but in that outward display of
wealth and grandeur which the world so much admires, as indicating the
royal power and pomp of kings.  But it was not so to be: “He shall grow
up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He
hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him there is no beauty
that we should desire Him.”  He would bear our griefs and carry our
sorrows while He was “despised and rejected of men,” and numbered with
the transgressors (Isa. liii.).

He should be the mighty God, the Everlasting Father (Isa. ix. 6), whose
goings forth have been from of old—from everlasting (Micah v. 2).  “A
prophet like unto Moses, him shall ye hear” (Deut. xviii. 15, 18).

8.  Subsequent to the close of the Old Testament prophecy, some very
remarkable incidents marked, to the believing Jews, the near approach and
the actual coming of their Messiah.

The angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias as he ministered in the priest’s
office, to announce the approaching birth of John the Baptist, who should
“go before, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke i. 17).
This visitation was made on a very public occasion, on the great Day of
Atonement, while “the whole multitude of the people were praying without
at the time of incense” (Luke i. 10).  The angel Gabriel appeared also to
the Virgin Mary to tell her that she should be blessed among women in
giving birth to the Messiah (ver. 28), and “all these sayings were noised
abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea” (Luke i. 65).

_The actual birth_ of our Lord was next announced by an angel to the
shepherds, saying, “Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke ii. 11); “and suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”
(Luke ii. 14).

While God in His providence provides abundant evidence for the believing
heart, yet it is not so redundant that none can reject it.  It is the eye
of faith which discerns God in prophecy, or providence, or nature, and
the opening of that eye is the effect of grace in the heart, at first
comparatively small and mixed with more or less of misgiving, as when
Nathanael said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John i. 46)
but growing with the increase of Divine grace as when he was able
afterwards to say, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of
Israel” (John i. 49).

Let us consider two examples illustrating this principle.

1.  That of Simeon, a righteous and devout man, looking for the
consolation of Israel, waiting for and expecting the fulfilment of
prophecy, who finding the infant Jesus in the temple, received Him into
his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy
salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a
light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel” (Luke
ii. 29–31).

2.  That of Herod, and the people of the Jews generally, when the wise
men came to Jerusalem, saying they had seen the king’s star in the east,
and were come to inquire where he was to be born.  The chief priest and
scribes, who with the people generally were also in expectation of the
promised Messiah, said he should be born in Bethlehem, and referred to
the prophetic declaration in that respect; but their unbelieving hearts
were aroused, and all Jerusalem was in an uproar, prepared to say, as
they did at last, “We will not have this man to rule over us.”  Herod
also, fearing a rival king, sent forth his soldiers to destroy the child,
by killing with undistinguishing cruelty, all the children from two years
old and younger.

In addition to the prophecies which marked the _descent_ of our Lord, and
the _time_ and _character_ of His coming, there are numerous references
made in the Old Testament to circumstances of His personal history while
He dwelt amongst men.

He should preach good tidings unto the meek, bind up the broken-hearted,
proclaim liberty to the captive, and comfort all that mourn (Isa. lxi. 1,
2).

He should open the blind eyes, unstop the deaf ears, make the lame to
leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb to sing (Isa. xxxv. 5, 6;
xxix. 18).

He should feed His flock like _a shepherd_ (Isa. xl. 11); “I will set one
_shepherd_ over them, even My servant David” (Ezek. xxxiv. 23).  “A king
shall reign and prosper, and this is the name whereby He shall be called,
the _Lord our Righteousness_” (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6).

He was “to be a priest for ever, after the order of Melchesidec” (Ps. ex.
4).  “He shall be a priest upon His throne” (Zech. vi. 13).

He should be for a “sanctuary” (Isa. viii. 14); a “rock and place of
refuge” (Ps. xci. 1).

He should “enter Jerusalem riding on an ass’s colt” (Zech. ix. 9).

He should “be higher than the kings of the earth.”  His throne should
“endure as the sun” (Ps. lxxxix. 27, 36).

He should “open His mouth in a parable, and utter dark sayings of old”
(Ps. lxxviii. 2; Isa. vi. 9, 10, compared with Matt. xiii. 14).

The rulers should “take counsel together against Him” (Ps. ii. 2).

His “own familiar friend, who did eat of His bread,” should “lift up his
heel against Him” (Ps. xli. 9).

“They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the
potter in the House of the Lord” (Zech. xi. 12, 13).  “They gave me gall
for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps. lxix.
21).

“Not a bone of Him should be broken” (Ex. xii. 46; Ps. xxxiv. 20).  “He
should give His back to the smitters, and His cheeks to them that plucked
off the hair.”  “He hid not His face from shame and spitting” (Isa. l.
6).

The assembly of the wicked should enclose Him—“they pierced my hands and
my feet” (Ps. xxii. 16).  “They part my garments among them, and cast
lots upon my vesture” (Ps. xxii. 18).  “All they that see me laugh me to
scorn; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, He trusted on
the Lord that He would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, seeing He
delighted in Him” (Ps. xxii. 7, 8).

He should “make His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His
death, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His
mouth” (Isa. liii. 9).

He should “make intercession for the transgressors” (Isa. liii. 12).
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

He should rise from the dead (Ps. xvi. 10), ascend into heaven, and
receive gifts for men, even “for the rebellious also, that the Lord God
might dwell among them” (Ps. lxviii. 18).

He should “pour out His Spirit on all flesh, so that their sons and
daughters should prophesy,” &c. (Joel ii. 28).

To “one like unto the Son of Man” was to be given “dominion and glory and
a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve Him;
His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and
His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Dan. vii. 13, 14).

With what justice could the Lord say, “Search the Scriptures, for in them
ye think ye have Eternal Life, and they are they which testify of Me?”
(John v. 39).  “And if I had not done among them the works which none
other man did, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloke for their
sin” (John xv. 24, 22) {66}

If such were the evidences furnished to _the Jews_, the _Gentile_ who
rests his hope on Christ as the Rock of Ages can equally enter into and
appreciate these proofs of our Lord’s mission, and unite in the
triumphant song of David, “Go round about Zion, tell the towers thereof;
mark ye well her bulwarks; consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to
the generation following; for this God is our God for ever and ever, He
will be our guide even unto death” (Ps. xlviii. 13, 14).  As Gentiles we
can also look back to the fall of the peculiar institutions designed to
point out the Messiah to mankind,—to the present state of His chosen
people, scattered throughout the Gentile world in fulfilment of their own
prophecies,—to the triumphs of the faith in Christ,—and to the multitudes
who have already been admitted to realise the mansions in the heaven
which He went to prepare for them.

As Christianity is itself built on the foundation of the _Law_, the
_Prophets_, and the _Psalms_, in fact upon whatever of Divine revelation
had preceded it, and is the crowning development of the whole, we may not
disregard or lightly esteem any portion of that outward work of Christ,
of which our blessings are the direct result, and without which we could
have no right or title to them.

The new Covenant of Grace was declared by Christ and His Apostles.  The
seal of that Covenant was the Blood of Jesus, the voluntary offering of
Himself for the sins of men, as typified by the patriarchal and Mosaic
institutions.  It was the purchase of our redemption, and of all those
gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit which the Lord Jesus after His
resurrection gave to men (Eph. iv. 8, 11; Rom. xii. 6, 8; 1 Cor. xii. 4;
&c.).  Thus He is the “foundation stone,” the “tried stone,” the “chief
corner-stone,” and “only hope of glory.”  By Himself He “_purges_ our
sins.”  By His _death_ He delivers “them who through fear of death, are
all their life time subject to bondage” (Heb. ii. 14, 15).  And does not
the continual daily sacrifice, morning by morning, and evening by
evening, prescribed by the Law, point to the constant bearing on our
minds before God, of the sacrifice of Christ, as the foundation of all
our hopes, and petitions for mercy and grace? the true propitiatory, or
mercy seat, where God will meet with us and dwell with us (see page 16,
and Ex. xxix. 42, 45).

“Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning,
that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope”
(Rom. xv. 4).

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works” (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17).

Nor need any be discouraged; the Bible is God’s revelation addressed
alike to all men, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, intellectual or of
small powers.  God is no respecter of persons, and to every one alike who
can read for themselves, or hear from others, the Bible, without note or
comment, may prove under the influence of God’s Spirit, “a lamp unto
their feet, a light to their path.”  The less educated will escape some
of the difficulties which beset the minds of others, and more easily
fulfil the conditions imposed by our Lord, “Except ye receive the kingdom
of God as little children, ye cannot enter therein;” and many are the
instances in which persons of comparatively small intellectual power
enjoy, appreciate, and bring forth the evident fruits of faith; so that,
with the Bible in their hands and the Holy Spirit to apply it, none need
despair of finding the way that leads to everlasting life.

The Psalmist asks, “Wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his way?” and
replies, “By taking heed thereto according to Thy word” (Ps. cxix. 9), so
that he may come to say, “O, how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all
the day” (ver. 97).  “Thou through Thy commandments hast made me wiser
than mine enemies; for they are ever with me” (ver. 98).

“Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever; they are the
rejoicing of my heart” (ver. 111).

“The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the
simple” (ver. 130).

The 19th Psalm also says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the
soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.  The
statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of
the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.  The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring for ever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether. . . .  By them is Thy servant warned, and in keeping of them
there is great reward” (Ps. xix. 7, 8, 9–11).

The Lord Jesus also said of the Father, “for I know that His commandment
is life everlasting” (John xii. 50).




CHAPTER V.


THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.

Having in the former pages noticed the manner in which the institutions
of previous revelation have pointed to and been completed by the Gospel
of Christ, let us now set forth some of the leading characteristics of
that religion which Jesus, so long foretold and typified, came to
introduce amongst men.

We must bear in mind that it was a _New Covenant_ with men, which He came
to establish.  The former Covenant had grown old, and was about to decay;
and it had been declared in prophecy, “This shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I
will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and
will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no
more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord: for they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest
of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more” (Jer. xxxi. 33 and 34).

He who came to establish this new Covenant, and teach it to men, was none
other than the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God.  All
things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was
made (John i. 1–3); who was the brightness of the Father’s glory, and
“the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of
His power” (Heb. i. 3).

It is no marvel therefore that the New Testament should teach us that the
first and cardinal point of this new faith was that we should believe on
the “Messenger of the Covenant”—the Lord Jesus Christ bearing glad
tidings of salvation to all men.

This is done in the clearest and most precise manner.

“God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
_whosoever believeth_ in Him should not perish, but _have everlasting
life_.”

“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that
the world _through Him might be saved_” (John iii. 16, 17).

“This is the work of God, that _ye believe on Him_ whom He hath sent”
(John vi. 29).

“This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and
_Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent_” (John xvii. 3).

“He that believeth on the Son _hath __everlasting life_: and he that
believeth not the Son _shall not see life_; but the wrath of _God abideth
on him_” (John iii. 36).

“He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath
everlasting life” (John v. 24).

“He _that believeth on Him is not condemned_: but _he that believeth not
is condemned already_, because he hath not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God” (John iii. 18).

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of
God, even _to them that believe on His name_” (John i. 12).

“I am the resurrection and the life: _he that believeth in Me_, though he
were dead, yet shall he live” (John xi. 25).

“_Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ_, _and thou shalt be saved_” (Acts
xvi. 31).

In the two verses quoted above, John iii. 16, 17, God is declared to send
His Son not to condemn, but to save the world.

Verse 18 divides mankind into two classes—those who _believe in Christ_,
and those who _do not believe_.  The former are _not condemned_, and if
they abide in Him will go on to everlasting life.  The latter “are
_condemned already_” for their not believing.  This condemnation is not
necessarily a final state, for if they “abide not in unbelief,” but turn
to Christ in repentance and faith, they will be brought into His covenant
of grace and salvation.  But if otherwise, when God’s longsuffering
patience has exhausted the pleadings, warnings, and wooings of the Spirit
without response, a time must come when the word will go forth, “My
Spirit shall not always strive with man;” and that state of condemnation
become an abiding one, agreeably to Rom. ii. 4–10.

“Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and
longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance?  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up
unto thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his
deeds:—To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory
and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are
contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man
that doeth evil . . . but glory, honour, and peace to every man that
worketh good” (Rom. ii. 4–10).

It becomes, therefore, an all-important point to endeavour to draw from
Scripture some of the chief conditions which are implied in these simple
words, “_Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ_.”

Our Lord has Himself given us an example of what He meant by it when He
said, “I seek _not mine own will_, but _the __will of the Father_ which
hath sent Me” (John v. 30).  Jesus believed in the Father, and he that in
like manner believes in the Son must seek, not his own will, but the will
of Christ.

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world;” “he that followeth Me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John viii. 12).
“I am _the way_, _the truth_, and _the life_; no man cometh unto the
Father but by Me” (John xiv. 6).  He is the _way_ to the Father, and the
_only way_:—the very _Truth_ of God expressed in word and action,—in
precept and example,—who “did no sin, neither was guile found in His
mouth” (1 Pet. ii. 22; and Isa. liii. 9),—and _the life_, the means
through which alone spiritual life is given to a world dead in trespasses
and sins.

Our Lord further defines the characteristics of the two classes as
follows:—“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh
to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But he that doeth truth
cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are
wrought in God” (John iii. 20, 21).

It is, therefore, a characteristic of believing in Jesus that we bring
our “deeds to _His light_ that it may be made manifest that they are
wrought in God.”

Jesus was “_the Light_” but His precepts and example—all, in fact, that
He did and taught—are so many lights derived from Him; as well as the
light of the Holy Ghost or Comforter, who shines in our hearts to give
“us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ” (2 Cor. iv.  6); and this bringing our deeds to the light
includes trying them by His words and example;—the precepts taught by His
Apostles, as well as by the Holy Spirit itself,—that by any or all of
these accordant tests it may be made clear whether they are according to
the mind of Christ.  “He that hath My commandments, and _keepeth them_,
he it is _that loveth Me_. . . .  He that _loveth Me not_, _keepeth not_
My sayings” (John xiv. 21, 24).

We have a lively illustration of practical belief in the patriarchs of
old, who, believing in God’s promises, and having seen them afar off,
embraced them, and shaped their lives in conformity to them:—viz., “These
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth.  For they which say
such things declare plainly that they seek . . . a better country—that
is, a heavenly” (Heb. xi. 13, 14, 16).

Believing in Christ, therefore, implies a belief that He is the Son of
God, the Messiah, and Saviour of the world, the centre and spring of all
our spiritual existence;—a belief in His _teaching expressed by_ shaping
our lives and conversation in the world by it; accepting Him as our King,
whose right it is to reign and rule in our hearts.  He tells us that we
must be “born again”—“born of the Spirit” (John iii. 3 and 6)—and the
power to truly believe in Christ is coincident with this new birth, and
indicative of it, when “the Holy Ghost or Comforter,” convincing us of
sin, and of our alienation from God by it, enables us to look to Jesus as
our Saviour and Redeemer.  When, by the power of the same Spirit, we are
enabled to lay aside our old works, thoughts, and propensities to evil,
and walk by the rule of faith in the light of the Spirit of Christ.  As
we abide and walk therein, we shall “grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;” bringing forth the fruits of the
Spirit, which are set forth in Gal. v. 22, as “love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against
such there is no law.”  Again (2 Pet. i. 5–7), as—“Faith, virtue,
knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and
charity.”

If we examine the nature of some of these fruits of the Spirit, we shall
see that though they are produced in us individually by the working of
the Spirit, they are not confined to ourselves, but will communicate to
others around us.  Thus we all know how communicative is the feeling of
_joy_—it burns to tell others the good news, or glad tidings.  The _love_
of God shed abroad in our hearts makes us long that others should
participate in this great blessing.—The _peace_ of God yearns that all
should be brought into its heavenly atmosphere: while the other qualities
or rather graces described,—as longsuffering, meekness, charity, &c,—mark
to others that we have been with Jesus: and the Apostle Peter winds up
his catalogue with the descriptive words equally applicable to both, “_If
these things be in you and abound_, they make you that ye shall neither
be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2
Pet. i. 8).

Thus the Gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believeth” (Rom. i. 16), and as its fruits spring up and _abound_ in any
heart they will in some or other form overflow to those around, and make
it a minister of righteousness, a testimony-bearer to the truth as it is
in Jesus: it may be in word and doctrine, in the private circle of
association, or even in the quiet testimony of a peaceful spirit, and a
faithful discharge of duties, recommending by its example the Gospel of
Christ.

“For the _law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus_ hath made me free
from _the law of sin and death_. . . .  That _the __righteousness of the
law_ might be fulfilled in us, _who walk not after the flesh_, _but after
the Spirit_.”  “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of
the flesh; but they _that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit_”
(Rom. viii. 2–5).

Allusion has been made at a former page (40) to the _precepts of the
law_, having been superseded by the higher _principles_ of the Gospel of
Christ.  The New Testament, instead of prescribing precise instructions
for conduct between man and man, sums up our duties in the general
principle, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; love worketh no ill
to his neighbour; love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. xiii. 9, 10);
at the same time illustrations are given, both of the fruits of the
Spirit, and of the fruits of sin in the heart (See Eph. iv. 22 to end,
and ch. v.; Rom. i. 28–32; Rev. xxi. 8).

The law written in the heart is the effect of the Holy Spirit’s work
there.  He works in us to will and to do of God’s good pleasure;—“to do
those things which are well pleasing in His sight;”—which should “be
known and read of all men,” by its effects on the conduct, &c. (2 Cor.
iii. 2).  It was the distinguishing feature of Christ’s coming—“Lo, I
come to do Thy will, O God” (Heb. x. 9).  And though we cannot attain to
His perfection, the work of the Spirit is always to beget within us more
of the love of God, and to incline our hearts to serve Him more
faithfully.  As we sit, as it were, at the feet of Jesus, looking unto
Him, the Spirit or Comforter will take of the things of Christ, and show
them to us, and there will be a growth in grace, and in conformity to the
will and law of God;—a subordination of the flesh to the Spirit, which
has no necessary, or perhaps no natural, limit, but in the summons to
quit the militant, and join the triumphant, Church above.

It is sometimes said that Christianity is an educational system in which
the mind is trained, by the restoring grace of the Holy Spirit, to
abandon sin, and work righteousness; and that the offer of this restoring
grace implies, as a necessary prelude, the pardon of past sin.

Enough has been already said to show that this is not consistent with the
general tenor of Holy Scripture.  We know that the minds of susceptible
children, nurtured under Christian mothers, do sometimes drink in the
truths of the Gospel from their lips, at a very early age, in a way that
makes it difficult to mark the period of decided change in them.  They
seem to grow up with the Gospel infused into their characters and life.

This is not, however, the common case; neither is it the happy lot of
_all_ to be so instructed from their cradles to maturity.  And when sin
has taken possession of the mind—whether in the milder development of
what is called innocent gaiety;—the love of pleasure, without
vice;—indisposition for serious things and persons;—or whether evil takes
a larger development, and vice in its grosser form exists; in either case
they cannot be said to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—nor, as a
consequence, to seek to do His will; but are living under the
condemnation of those who do not believe.  And these states, admitted and
protracted, necessarily tend to harden in sin, and the longer they
continue, to render it more difficult to return, repent, and live.  So
that in general it is when the fear of death is brought nearer by
sickness:—when aroused by the powerful ministry of the Word, or by the
direct pleadings of the Holy Spirit, convincing us of sin and of judgment
to come:—then, if at all, they are arrested in their downward course,
and, through God’s longsuffering mercy, are brought to see their need of
a Saviour, a Redeemer, a sacrifice for sin.  Under such circumstances _no
necessary implication of pardon_ will give _peace_; they must feel that
Jesus _has borne their sins in His own body on the tree_, _and that by
His stripes they are healed_.

How many instances do we read of persons, for long years refusing to
yield themselves to God, being at length brought into such depths of
misery or danger (in that longsuffering mercy which has followed them all
through), and then are they enabled to repent and put away their sins,
and, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, to be saved from the wrath to
come.

But some, perhaps, will say: Why cannot I believe in the Lord Jesus as
“the restorer of breaches,” and “of paths to dwell in,” without going
back to past ages?  The answer is very obvious—that if He be not the
Sacrifice, He cannot be the Restorer.  He is _one_ Christ, and His work
_one_.  If He atones for the sin of mankind, He can be then the
restorer;—the one is as much part of His character as the other.  And if
we would divide His perfect work in two parts, and reject Him when
suffering on the cross for our sins:—that “we might live”:—“to give His
life a ransom for us,”—can we be sure that He will acknowledge us when
seated on the right hand of God?  Can we be truly said to believe in Him
with our _whole_ heart?  _If_ we do not accept what He has said of
Himself; by His own rule we are not seeking to do His will.

It is _after_ “_having made peace through the blood of His cross_;” . . .
that He _is able_ “_to reconcile all things unto Himself_” (Col. i. 19,
20), so that they who “were sometimes alienated by wicked works, yet now
hath He reconciled in the body of _His flesh through death_, to present
you holy and unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight.” (Col. i. 22).

In the previous chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, Paul, having taken
a review of the mercies of God in human redemption by Christ, and of the
calling of the Jews and Gentiles;—in the twelfth chapter he beseeches the
brethren “to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is their reasonable service” (ver. 1); and at the end of
the thirteenth chapter he exhorts them to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lust thereof” (ver.
14); while the intermediate verses contain a remarkably concise epitome
of the character and duties of the members of the Christian Church.

I have endeavoured to draw the character of Christianity as I find it in
the New Testament.  No place is made for lukewarmness, indifference, or
formality.  Every one receiving the inestimable blessing of faith in
Christ is naturally expected to embrace it; to prize it as the “pearl of
great price”; the greatest of all treasures; and to be wrapped up in its
excellence, counting all other things as valueless and unworthy of
attention in comparison with it.  And the new creature is to grow up out
of the new faith, stripped of all that is old and sinful, and clothed
with all that is just and true and godly.

To flee from the “wrath to come,” and take refuge in the ark or fold of
Christ, is a work of the deepest seriousness, and the joy of feeling that
you have attained that shelter and security is depicted in the New and
Old Testaments as of the liveliest kind.

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say rejoice” (Phil. iv. 4).
“Whom having not seen ye love; in whom though now ye see Him not, yet,
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. i.
8), and this in the midst of grievous persecutions.

“And thou shalt _rejoice in the Lord_, and shalt glory in the Holy One of
Israel” (Isa. xli. 16).

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me
with the robe of righteousness” (Isa. lxi. 10).

“I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab.
iii. 18).

“Rejoice evermore” (1 Thess. v. 16).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit” (Rom. viii. 1):
born again of the Spirit: believing in Christ: our sins borne by Him on
the tree: “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus making us free from the law
of sin and death” (Rom. viii. 2), should we not rejoice with grateful
hearts, and through Jesus offer “the sacrifice of praise to God
continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name”?
(Heb. xiii. 15.)

But are there not many minds who are more given to dwell in a low state,
and in somewhat of that sombreness which is cast over nature when the
_sun_ is more or less _eclipsed_, to whom it is more congenial to look at
the doubtful or dark side of things, than to indulge in joyful
anticipations?  If such be our condition of mind, should we not strive
against it, and examine whether there be not cause for joy?

If through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus our sins are forgiven; if we
have passed from death unto life; if Christ, who is the appointed “Judge
of quick and dead,” be OUR _Intercessor and Redeemer_, who is he that can
harm us?  If by means of His redemption we are made joint heirs with Him
of the heavenly Kingdom and glory, ought we not to rejoice and be glad?
To have passed from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto
God is surely matter for joy and rejoicing, and the feeling is one that
it is the duty of all such to encourage, and seek by prayer and
meditation on the promises of God in Christ Jesus—promises which are _not
yea and nay_, but _all yea_ in Him—all unconditional—absolutely certain
to all who believe in, love, and obey Him, and persevere to the end.




Footnotes.


{6}  These were the three grand divisions of the Old Testament, according
to the Jewish arrangement, and comprised the entire volume.

{12}  Cruden says that sacrifice was offered by Adam and his sons.

{20}  May we not learn from this the duty of expressing our thankfulness
to the Giver of every good and perfect gift before partaking of it? so
also, at Feast of Pentecost.

{21}  In Lev. xxiii. 18, it is stated _one_ bullock and _two_ rams, but
in Numbers, just before entering the Promised Land, some alterations were
made.

{42}  Mark here the dignity and quality of the teacher—“the brightness of
the Father’s glory and express image of His person,”—come to teach men
the things which He had seen and heard with His Father in heaven—John
iii. 32,—and so completely representing the Father that He could say, “If
ye have seen Me ye have seen the Father also” (John xiv. 15).  See also
Col. i. 15.

{46}  See terms used in the account of the daily and other sacrifices
(Lev. i. 9; iv. 31, &c.), p. 16.

{48a}  The blood of goats and calves (Heb. ix. 12–14).

{48b}  The blood of Christ (Heb. ix. 14).

{66}  See in “Horne’s Introduction to the Critical Study of the
Scriptures” a full account of the prophecies of the Old Testament, with
their fulfilment in the words of the New Testament, from which several of
the above are extracted.  Vol. i., Appendix No. 6.




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